North Island Reserve

The Reserve

The North Island Reserve is the northernmost part of The Nation of Churiss. It sits in a sub-tropical climate zone and is lush with vegetation and animal life.
It is solely a tourist venue. It caters to those who wish for a peaceful relaxing holiday, through to others who seek high danger, where if you do not meet an excruciating death, you may just have the time of your life.

Geography

The North Island Reserve is a roughly 60,000 square kilometer area sat in a warm and pretty wet sub-tropical zone. The terrain is varied, consisting of hills, forests, and several rivers and lakes. The land is generally very fertile.
Due to various porous rock types, it has an extensive cave system.
Surrounded by the sea, it is also home to a number of sea-dwelling creatures such as seals and turtles.
The variety of altitudes and habitats has led to a natural richness of plant and animal species.
Additionally, the island has never been fully populated by any peoples of the world. As such it has not suffered from any significant deforestation or other destructive artificial processes.
Due to these factors, the island has generated species at faster rates than many others in the region and suffered no significant losses through time.

Controversy

Over time the leaders of Churiss have developed a thriving tourism sector. Due to the variety of attractions they offer, tourists visit in large numbers all year round - the wealthiest even charter Holiday Carriages to Churiss. Many citizens of Churiss have benefited directly from this trade, and virtually all the others indirectly.
However, the North Island Reserve divides opinion among the population. Its economic benefits are unquestioned but the ethics behind the program that established it certainly is. Additional flora and fauna have been artificially introduced - this takes a few different forms.
In the high-risk Zone D, monsters and powerful beasts have been acquired and situated into specially made enclosures, open habitats, and cave systems. To support these new introductions, additional animal species and plant life have also been transplanted into the Reserve to provide them with food.
Similarly, species have been brought in from outside to populate Zones B and C for safaris and hunting.
The program has experienced many difficulties over the years and many of the indigenous species have been drastically reduced and a few wiped out, either by mistakes in how the habitat is being engineered or because of the new predators being introduced in too many numbers.
The natural habitat is in grave danger but the revenues being drawn from the Reserve make it unlikely that the program will be slowed, let alone stopped.

The image above is of the North Island Reserve as viewed from an exclusive holiday beach just outside the City of Churiss

Map of the North Island Reserve Risk Zones

The Island is split into four Zones, each reflecting the relative risk to the lives of any visitors.

North Island Reserve - Zones

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North Island Reserve is separated into Zones based on the level of risk to the life of those visiting.

Perilous Activities

The highest risk Zone D is home to dangerous monsters, put here for only seasoned and powerful adventurers. Many visitors to this area are actually retired adventurers who miss their former profession - wishing to have one final taste of life on the edge. Those entering Zone D are sworn to secrecy regarding what monsters they encounter there.
Zone C contains less dangerous but more numerous monsters and beasts. These are placed for inexperienced adventurers looking to hone their skills in a semi-supervised setting - the risks are significant but help is on hand should the weaker get into more trouble than they can handle.

Cover art by: Walkerssk  https://pixabay.com/users/walkerssk-1409366/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1921598

Map made using the software: Wonderdraft  https://www.wonderdraft.net/